Sneaky
by Caitiy
Summary: Sakura finally decides to do something about a little ongoing domestic issue.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.

A/N: Unbeta'd. I don't remember when this was written, probably sometime around 2009-2010. Found this while looking for something else and figured I'd post since it was Valentine's Day.

Sneaky

It had all started out small enough. A couple pieces of chicken or fish here, a slice of cake there, or a couple of apples when she wasn't looking. Never anything really large and always small portions of larger quantities – most likely in hopes that she wouldn't notice. Regardless, she knew exactly who was to blame for each infraction – however slight – but, for whatever reason she couldn't quite bring herself to punish those responsible… which was probably what led to her undoing.

Somehow, somewhere along the line it had gotten out of hand. The occasional couple pieces of something from a larger batch slowly increased in size until entire plates of leftovers were disappearing from her refrigerator on a fairly regular basis. She knew who was to blame, when they were likely to strike, and even _why_. For the most part she couldn't quite blame them, but on the other hand, it was starting to get ridiculous.

Finally, one evening she snapped. It had been a long day at the hospital and she was looking forward to the leftovers she had already prepared for herself that morning. All she would need to do when she got home was warm up her dinner, eat, and go to bed. Upon arriving at her apartment and opening her fridge she found that someone had stolen her nicely prepared leftover dinner. It was the last straw; she knew she would have to do _something_. Things just couldn't go on as they had been.

Yes, going out on weeks or even months long missions _did_ tend to leave kitchens a little lacking in the readily consumable foods area, and one can only survive so long on cup ramen – usually while out on a mission. A home cooked meal could be a godsend to those who have seen only instant or fast food for too long, and for the most part she had never really minded all that much. Well, so long as they would take her out to dinner later to make up for it. There was also the fact that both Naruto and Sasuke were currently in stable relationships, and consequently, the drain on her kitchen had decreased considerably. But, that still left her with the more daring – and admittedly more skilled – of the three raiding her fridge on a regular basis.

If he had just returned from a mission she might not have minded so much, but she knew for a fact that he had been in the back for almost a week – plenty of time to go food shopping and make his own meals. Regardless, he was still stealing her food, and had been all week.

Annoyed, but too tired to seek him out, she made some instant ramen and went to bed, thinking of how she could best rectify the situation.

Quietly he snuck into her apartment, her shift at the hospital would be ending soon and if he wanted dinner he would have to snag it before she got home. Yes, he had been back in Konoha for almost a week, and really should be making his own meals... unfortunately, for some strange reason he was having a hard time forcing himself to go out and purchase the necessary ingredients so he could cook for himself.

It wasn't because he didn't know how to cook – he knew very well – and it wasn't because he couldn't cook, because he was fairly decent in the kitchen when he put a little effort into it. Too many years spent living alone had taught him the way around a kitchen very well.

No, it was something else that drove him to keep returning to his former student's apartment night after night to steal her food, and he wasn't all that sure what he should do about it. Granted, he now owed her quite a few evenings out, that could be a start... but, to actually follow through, that was the tricky bit.

Shaking his head to clear the vaguely troubling thoughts from his mind he stealthily picked the lock on her balcony doors and slipped into her living room – secure in the fact that her shift shouldn't end for another hour or two...

At least, he had been feeling secure, until, he smelled it. The delicious scent of something simmering on the stove, soup or stew he guessed. He thought he might have to have a conversation with her over the dangers of leaving something cooking all day while she was at work… though the end results were generally very tasty.

Cautiously, he approached the kitchen, and realized too late that he had been caught.

"You might as well come in, I know you're lingering out there Kakashi." Sakura called out with a slight smirk on her lips – she had guessed right and the day off she had just taken had paid off.

With a sigh he slipped into the cozy kitchen to face what he was sure would be her fury, he had after all, been boldly stealing her food for nearly a week with no offers of compensation, apologies, or even thanks.

She laughed upon catching sight of his faint expression of resigned defeat, and his eye widened in surprise, he had expected something else entirely.

"Come on in and sit down. I'll join you once I've put these brownies in the oven. Help yourself to some stew and a drink while you're waiting."

Too surprised to do otherwise he complied, collecting a bowl of stew a glass of water, and took a seat at her table. Tensely he waited to see what she had to say to him, unsure if he should eat or wait for her.

After a couple minutes' fussing with a pan of brownie batter, Sakura slipped it into the oven to bake and turned to face the bewildered man – fully aware that he was quite confused as to her actions. A part of her wanted to make him squirm a little more, but she knew that wouldn't really accomplish anything. Instead she fixed herself a bowl of stew and joined Kakashi at the table.

She smiled at his wary expression. "Eat, Kakashi, eat. I'm sure this is why you were sneaking into my apartment an hour or so before the end of my shift, isn't it?"

"Well… I had heard that there was a notorious cat-" he stopped upon seeing the frown on her face and decided to try the truth as in the mood she was in anything else was likely to get him pounded. "Alright, alright, you got me. Yes, I wanted to see if you had any leftovers."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Did it ever occur to you to simply ask?"

"Ask?"

"Yes, you know come find me somewhere, ask me out to dinner, and while we're eating casually slip it into conversation that you were looking for a homemade meal…" She trailed off and looked at him meaningfully, hoping he would get the point.

Wide eyed he stared at her, unsure if he had just heard correctly. From what he could understand she had just offered up an exchange of sorts, if he takes her out, she will cook for him. He shook his head, in disbelief, it sounded too good to be true.

She watched his face and laughed, it had obviously never occurred to him to simply ask her. "If the dinner is good, I can't see why I would ever say no… unless missions or my working schedule prevented it, but then again I always have leftovers." She eyed him, sensing that he was still not quite understanding and figured he would need a little bit more of a push. "Kakashi, why do you suppose I always have leftovers?"

He shook his head, feeling lost in unfamiliar territory.

Sakura smiled. "Because I always cook for two."


End file.
